|
U.S. District Judge John H. Chun in Seattle found that those
requirements exceeded the president's authority, following
similar rulings in a Massachusetts case brought by 19 states and
in a Washington, D.C., case by Democratic and civil rights
groups.
“Today’s ruling is a huge victory for voters in Washington and
Oregon, and for the rule of law,” Washington Attorney General
Nick Brown said. "The court enforced the long-standing
constitutional rule that only States and Congress can regulate
elections, not the Election Denier-in-Chief.”
The executive order, issued in March, included new requirements
that people provide documentary proof of citizenship when
registering to vote and a demand that all mail ballots be
received by Election Day. It also put states’ federal funding at
risk if election officials didn’t comply.
Officials in Oregon and Washington, which accept ballots as long
as they are postmarked by Election Day, said that could
disenfranchise thousands of voters. During the 2024 general
election, officials in Washington counted nearly 120,000 ballots
that were received after election day but postmarked by it.
Oregon officials received nearly 14,000 such ballots.
The judge found that Trump's efforts violated the separation of
powers. The Constitution grants Congress and the states the
authority to regulate federal elections, he noted.
Oregon and Washington said they sued separately from other
states because, as exclusively vote-by-mail states, they faced
particular harms from the executive order.
Trump and other Republicans have promoted the idea that large
numbers of people who were not U.S. citizens might be voting.
However, voting by noncitizens is rare and, when they are
caught, they can face felony charges and deportation.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
